


look after you

by doitsushine92



Series: NCT Poly Fics [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 2000 line, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jeno-centric, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Polyamory, a/b/o dynamics, jeno is sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:57:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15191312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doitsushine92/pseuds/doitsushine92
Summary: Jeno has sneezed four times in the past five minutes.





	look after you

**Author's Note:**

> someone get me better titles and better endings
> 
> tbvh im not all /that/ happy with this one, i feel like there were many sentences that could have been written better but i also wanted to post this because i feel like i made you wait long enough lmao 
> 
> i hope y'all enjoy!!
> 
> this is for chantherealog who wanted a jeno-centric!! hope i didnt butcher this too much

Jeno has sneezed four times in the past five minutes. 

Donghyuck eyes him carefully, taking in the suspicious redness of his cheeks and nose, the watery eyes and the way he keeps rubbing his nose, and nods to himself, putting his pencil down. They have a couple of minutes left before their last class is over, and then Donghyuck has choir practice until five, but he thinks he can get Jaemin to drive Jeno home instead of letting the alpha wait for him like he’ll most likely want to do.

Jaemin sits two rows behind Donghyuck and Jeno do, but he’s still within earshot distance, or at least enough for Donghyuck to catch his attention quickly. Jaemin is engrossed with his phone, blatantly watching Instagram histories while waiting for the bell to dismiss them.

“Jae-yah,” Donghyuck calls, waits patiently for Jaemin to look up from his phone – if Donghyuck isn’t mistaken, it’s the video of Song Dongmyeong crying at the party because he’ll miss everyone after graduation – and then makes eye contact with Jaemin, glances pointedly at Jeno and locks eyes again with him. 

Jaemin is visibly confused at first, frowning at Donghyuck, but then Jeno sniffs and coughs violently, drawing the attention of their classmates, and Donghyuck knows Jaemin got the message. Jaemin nods and begins to pack up his things, shoving his pencil case in his backpack without much care. Donghyuck rolls his eyes at Jaemin’s carelessness, shrugging off Jeno’s concerned stare while he packs up too.

Their professor dismisses them before the bell does, waving them out of the classroom. Jeno sways as he gets up, his gaze a little unfocused. Donghyuck immediately grabs him by the arm to keep him upright, his heartbeat going haywire when he notices how pale Jeno looks.

“Donghyuck-ah, call Johnny,” Jaemin tells Donghyuck in his alpha voice, his jaw set firm. “Ask him to meet us at Jeno’s.”

Donghyuck does as he’s told, digging around his uniform pockets for his phone. Johnny is Jeno’s cousin and the closest thing he has to an older brother. Considering the Lee’s both have demanding jobs that keep them in the office for hours, it’s a safer bet to call Johnny instead.

The call doesn’t last long, partly because Donghyuck is too distracted with Jeno to pay much attention to the call, partly because the second Johnny hears Jeno is sick, Donghyuck can hear him rushing around his apartment, searching for his keys and cursing when he stubs his toe. They agree to meet at Jeno’s house in an hour and Donghyuck hangs up.

Renjun meets them outside the school, either because Jaemin texted him, or because he smelled their concern from the physics lab. At this point, Donghyuck wouldn’t be surprised if it were the latter. There’s a worried frown etched in Renjun’s face as he takes Jeno from Jaemin’s hands, rubbing a soothing palm up and down the sick alpha’s back while leading him to the car.

Jaemin fishes the car keys from Jeno’s back pockets and starts the engine, setting the heater to a bit higher temperature to warm up the car – Jeno is shivering now, grasping at Renjun’s sweater with weak fingers and coughing his lungs out. It worries Donghyuck to no end to see how fast he’s worsened.

“Hyuck,” Jaemin says. Donghyuck looks up from the ground, lower lip caught between his teeth. “You should go to choir.”

Donghyuck doesn’t want to. He feels immensely selfish to be thinking about stupid choir practice when Jeno looks so sick and miserable, and he wants to go home with them, wrap himself around Jeno to keep him warm and surrounded by familiar scents. The last thing he wants to do is leave him alone.

“I,” Donghyuck stutters, his eyes fleeting from Jeno’s pale face to their school entrance. He finally shakes his head resolutely, dumps his backpack on the floor of the backseat and circles around the car to get into the passenger’s seat. “Come on, Johnny said he’d be there soon.”

Jaemin smiles amusedly. He was probably expecting this, Donghyuck knows. Jaemin has always been able to read him like an open book. 

Donghyuck spends most of the car ride twisted in his seat, talking to Jeno in hushed tones, holding his hand. Renjun keeps himself occupied with brushing sweaty strands of hair from his face, and the worry in his features has Donghyuck’s heart twisting in sympathy.

Renjun and Jeno’s relationship is one Donghyuck has always admired. He knows it wasn’t easy for them to adapt to all this, the change in their dynamic so sudden in their case it most have given them whiplash. Because unlike Jeno and Donghyuck and Jaemin and Renjun, who were already there in terms of feelings, Jeno and Renjun had to work things out, had to get used to being in a relationship with each other.

But the amazing part is that they pulled through. Maybe it wasn’t easy, but it only took a couple of months for them to be head over heels for each other, just like they already were for Donghyuck and Jaemin. Donghyuck is immensely proud of them, especially at times like these, when their love is as obvious as it is now, with Renjun rubbing the apple of Jeno’s cheek with his thumb, doing his best to keep him calm and comfortable until they get home.

The Lee house is still deserted when they arrive. Jaemin parks the car in the driveway and then proceeds to run around like a headless chicken, getting the front door open and helping Renjun carry Jeno inside, tossing the car keys at Donghyuck to lock the car. Donghyuck can’t help but smile at the concern.

“There’s cold medicine on the bathroom cabinet,” Jaemin tells them as he fishes a bottle of water from the fridge. Renjun leaves Jeno under the care of Donghyuck and goes to look for the medicine, shouting at Jaemin that there’s nothing there. Jaemin exits the kitchen with a couple of swear words in his wake. 

Donghyuck sighs, taking Jeno to the couch. He helps the alpha settle down on the cushions, placing a couple of throw pillows beneath his neck for comfort. Donghyuck makes to move away, but Jeno is already pulling him closer, nuzzling under Donghyuck’s chin.

“Don’t go,” Jeno mutters feverishly, tightening his hold. “Warm.”

Donghyuck has to sigh again. He wishes he could move away, because Jeno is too warm for comfort and his knee is digging into Donghyuck’s stomach, but he doesn’t have the heart to do that, not when Jeno is snuggling closer to him and humming under his breath. 

“You’re like a giant baby,” Donghyuck says affectionately, running his fingers through Jeno’s hair. 

Renjun and Jaemin return then, carrying a damp towel, a basin full of water and a couple of cough drops. Renjun comes closer to them, towel in hand to lie on Jeno’s forehead, but Jeno nearly bites his hand off. The growl that comes out of him is nothing short of terrifying.

All three of them look equally surprised, with a bit of dread from Donghyuck. Jeno is squeezing the life out of him, possessively keeping him out of reach from the others. Renjun backs away slowly, his eyes trained on Jeno, searching for any sign of hostility. Renjun has to move to the other end of the living room for Jeno to stop growling at him, and even then, he doesn’t let go of Donghyuck. 

“Ok,” Jaemin drawls out, plopping down next to Renjun on the loveseat. “I’m having war flashbacks here.”

Donghyuck agrees. This is too much like the time Jeno went through the lunar fever, back when he was about to present, and snapped at anyone who dared come closer than five feet to him. Those were hard times, if Donghyuck is being honest. 

The living room is plunged into a tense silence that’s only broken by Jeno’s coughing, sneezing and even the occasional growl of warning when Jaemin or Renjun so much as shift in their seats. Donghyuck is going to end up with Jeno’s fingertips etched on his skin for at least a _week_ with how hard he’s holding him.

Donghyuck thanks the high heavens when Johnny arrives, Taeyong in tow. Johnny seems to read the room pretty quickly, but it doesn’t stop him from striding right into Jeno’s personal space. 

“Donghyuck, go with Taeyong,” Johnny says calmly, lifting Jeno’s arm from around Donghyuck’s body. “He’s gonna make you guys dinner.”

Jeno tries to grab onto Donghyuck again, but Johnny bodily blocks him from getting up the couch. Donghyuck will deny later that he escaped, but that’s exactly what he did. Taeyong smiles reassuringly, taking Donghyuck by the hand to go to the kitchen together.

As Mark’s older brother, Taeyong has seen Donghyuck in every state – he’s seen him happy, crying, bullshitting his way out of trouble and he knows Donghyuck, knows that the beta is a little shaken up right now and needs a comforting presence with him.

The last thing Donghyuck sees before the kitchen door swings closed behind him is Johnny getting right up close to Jeno’s face with a growl himself. 

“Let them be,” Taeyong says easily. “Johnny knows what he’s doing.”

Oh, Donghyuck doesn’t doubt that. “Do you know why Jeno is acting like that?” Donghyuck asks.

Taeyong takes his time to answer, pulling out pots and pans and setting them on the counter before he is browsing the fridge for ingredients. “I’m not sure,” he finally says, “but my best guess is that his rut came at the same time of the full moon. That’s bound to drive anyone crazy.”

“He’s in rut?” Donghyuck blinks. “I didn’t smell it.”

“It’s probably not obvious yet,” Taeyong shrugs. “But it seems like the most likely reason. The crankiness, the possessiveness over you, plus the fever and the haziness in his eyes.”

“You got all that from a minute and a half of being in the same room as him?”

Taeyong smiles. “My brother is an alpha dating an alpha and his best friend is dating three alphas. You pick up on stuff.”

“I’m Mark’s best friend?” Donghyuck giggles. “I always knew he loved me.”

“Don’t tell him I told you,” Taeyong rolls his eyes. Donghyuck pinky promises, but they both know he’s going to call Mark to gloat tonight. 

Renjun or Jaemin will occasionally wander into the kitchen, Renjun to offer his help, Jaemin to pick at the food until he gets shooed away, but mostly the two remain alone, cooking in silent comradery. Donghyuck feels at ease when he’s with Taeyong, probably because the omega is sweet and quiet and likes to dote on him, three things Donghyuck appreciates immensely. They make chicken soup for Jeno and steak for everyone else, accompanied by rice and some steamed veggies. Donghyuck almost burns the rice but he manages to salvage it just in time, much to Taeyong’s amusement. When dinner is done, Taeyong carries the meat to the dining table while Donghyuck brings the soup to Jeno. 

Johnny said Jeno was calm again, although a little feverish. Donghyuck is warned that Jeno might be speaking nonsense but not to pay much attention to it, and then he’s allowed upstairs to where they’ve moved the sick alpha.

Jeno’s room is dark, with the curtains shut and only a desk lamp turned on. Renjun is snoring quietly on a beanbag in the corner of the bedroom, his mouth hanging open and his phone resting on his chest. Jaemin is curled around Jeno, stroking his hair and talking to him in hushed tones. 

“I brought soup,” Donghyuck announces in a whisper, letting the door close behind him. Jeno tries sitting up on his own but he’s clearly too weak and he slumps back down. “Let Jaemin help you, Jeno-yah,” Donghyuck urges him.

Jeno isn’t too happy about it, but he lets Jaemin manhandle him into an upright position, fluffing up the pillows that are serving as backrest for him. Donghyuck places the tray over Jeno’s legs, careful not to spill any soup, then sits down on the edge of the bed and helps feed Jeno.

Renjun wakes up halfway through the feeding and he stumbles to join them on the bed, rests his cheek on Donghyuck’s shoulder and falls back asleep. As Johnny told Donghyuck, Jeno keeps mumbling bullshit, most of which Donghyuck doesn’t catch. He does hear his own name every once in a while, along with Jaemin’s and Renjun’s, but his words are too slurred for him to even attempt to understand.

“Taeyong hyung made steak,” Donghyuck says in passing, wiping some soup from the corner of Jeno’s mouth. “So after we put him to sleep we can go downstairs to eat.”

“You’re just gonna leave me here?” Jeno whines sluggishly, clamping his hand down on Jaemin’s thigh. 

“Of course not, baby,” Renjun soothes, magically awake, reaching around Donghyuck to pet Jeno’s head. “We’ll stay right here until you fall asleep, eat quickly and come back. You won’t even know we’re gone, promise.”

Jeno pouts, burrowing under the covers. Donghyuck puts the bowl of soup on the bedside table, sighing when he notices there’s still some left. Still, Jeno ate more than Donghyuck thought he would, so perhaps he shouldn’t be complaining. 

Fifteen minutes later and Jeno is dead to the world, wrapped tightly around Jaemin, mouthing at his neck. Jaemin looks like he’s halfway there too, his eyelids slipping closed every once in a while before he forces them open. Renjun and Donghyuck help Jaemin out of Jeno’s hold, replacing him with a full-body pillow Jeno had lying at the foot of the bed, and exit the bedroom as quietly as possible.

“My back,” Jaemin whines, stretching his arms up until there’s a cracking sound. He moans, and then rubs at his neck. “I’m sore everywhere, god.”

Renjun pats his back in solidarity. “I’ll give you a massage later, if you want,” he offers. He ignores Donghyuck’s ridiculous smirk in favour of linking hands with Jaemin. By the time they’re in the kitchen, Donghyuck is over this whole ignoring Donghyuck business and is clinging onto Jaemin and Renjun, pulling out all the stocks to get their attention.

“Finally,” Johnny greets them. He’s sprawled on the couch, TV remote in hand, Taeyong dozing off on his lap. The sight is unbearably cute, Donghyuck must admit. “We put your food in the oven to keep it warm.”

They thank him quietly, trampling each other on their way to the kitchen. Their meals are already on separate plates, thank God, so all they really have to do is take them to the dining table. Except they don’t want to move to the dining room, because it’s connected to the living room and they don’t want to wake Taeyong, so they sit down on the kitchen counter and eat in comfortable silence, keeping their conversation to a minimum. 

Jeno comes stumbling down the stairs, his hair sticking up in all directions and the imprint of a pillow on his cheek. Johnny tries to get him to go back upstairs, but Jeno waves him off, deadest on reaching his boyfriends. Renjun is the closest to him, since he’d gotten up to wash the dishes and was now returning to the counter, and he catches Jeno before the alpha could trip.

“What are you doing here?” Renjun tuts, shifting Jeno in his arms so he’s upright. “You should have stayed upstairs.”

“Missed you,” Jeno mumbles, burrowing closer to Renjun. Donghyuck didn’t notice before, but someone must have helped Jeno change out of his uniform, since he’s now wearing loose sweats and a hoodie. “You took too long.”

Renjun huffs, but he’s smiling like a fool, heart eyes and all. “Come on, let’s get you back upstairs.”

Together, they make the trip to Jeno’s bedroom. Donghyuck nearly has a heart attack when Jeno almost falls down the stairs, but Renjun is there to catch him in time, and he doesn’t move his arm from Jeno’s waist even after they’re safely on the top floor.

“Injunnie,” Jeno says, “come here.”

Renjun has no choice but to let himself be pulled down on the bed along with Jeno. His boyfriend wastes no time, throws a leg over Renjun’s hips and pulls him closer, his right hand holding onto Renjun’s shoulder to keep him there. Renjun wiggles a little until they’re lying face to face, and then he relaxes.

Jeno’s eyes are bloodshot and droopy, but he’s got a content little smile on his face. Renjun smiles back, brushing a stray hair away from Jeno’s eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Jeno responds honestly. Renjun can’t help the giggle that escapes him, and Jeno starts laughing with him too, although he coughs more than he laughs. They settle down after a minute, and Jeno closes his eyelids, shifts closer until he and Renjun are pressed together and hides his face in Renjun’s neck, breathing him in. Renjun rubs his back in circles and hums a random Chinese lullaby until Jeno falls asleep. 

Twenty minutes later, when Jaemin and Donghyuck come upstairs, they find the two are sleeping peacefully, wrapped around each other.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter/kkt id: doitsushine92  
> cc: marian_09
> 
> from now on, let's leave the cc for prompts that can be answered as drabbles right there, yes? dont worry those who have already left a request there, i'll fulfill those in a story, i just think it'd be easier if i write drabbles for you guys on cc and the requests for longer stories are left here! the drabbles can be about any ship in nct and exo, as well as nsfw for legal nct!


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